_________________“I doubt about myself, I think the doubts are good in life. The people who don’t have doubts I think only two things: arrogance or not intelligence.”

"When these kind of matches happen you suffer, but I really enjoy these moments. I really enjoy suffering, because what's harder is when I am in Mallorca last year and I had to watch these kind of matches on the TV."

The 2017 season was a breakout year for Pablo Carreno Busta. The Spaniard was ranked No. 30 in January, but rose into the Top 10 with personal-best results at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open, plus a semifinal showing in Indian Wells.

The 26-year-old also won an ATP 250 title in Estoril, and made an ATP 500 final in Rio de Janeiro (falling to Dominic Thiem).

Moment of the Year

Carreno Busta reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals by beating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets and Milos Raonic 8-6 in the fifth. It wasn't his deepest run of 2017, but it was his most impressive given the degree of draw difficulty.

Carreno Busta's hottest moment in Monte-Carlo Masters is a two-parter, with a behind-the-back forehand and a subsequent sliding pass:

Outlook for 2018

With so many big runs at the biggest events--such as the US Open semifinal--maintaining a Top-10 spot in 2018 may be a big ask for Carreno Busta. However, he won't be defending any points at Wimbledon, and he's still young at 26 years old. Perhaps a return visit to London next November for the ATP Finals could be a real possibility.

On Friday at the Australian Open, the World No. 11 prevailed past 23rd seed Gilles Muller 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to reach the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time.

Carreno Busta had also reached the third round Down Under last year. He achieved career-best showings at 2017 Roland Garros (QF) and 2017 US Open (SF). Carreno Busta did not play at 2017 Wimbledon (ab injury).

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But on Sunday in Melbourne, the right-hander will play for a chance to make the Australian Open quarter-finals because of some well-timed breaks late in the match.

In the third set, Carreno Busta and Muller were on serve until the 12th game, when Carreno Busta broke for the crucial two-sets-to-one lead. And in the fourth set, Carreno Busta again broke in the 12th game to seal the third-round contest.

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It wasn't as if Muller had a down serving day, either. The Luxembourg native, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year, delivered 40 aces and won 84 per cent of his first-serve points (74/88). But Carreno Busta found opportunities with Muller's second serve, winning nearly 60 per cent of those points.

Carreno Busta will next meet sixth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Cilic

Cilic progressed to the fourth round for the fifth time after a 7-6(4), 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over American Ryan Harrison, the recent Brisbane International presented by Suncorp finalist.

“Ryan played really good today,” said Cilic. “I was expecting also that he’s going to come out playing well. He’s had a good start to the season, playing finals in Brisbane and a good two wins over here, and definitely it was tough. It was tough to get used to the conditions, a little bit cooler now in the evening, but I'm really pleased with the win.”

Looking ahead to facing Carreno Busta, Cilic said, “We’ve played only once a year and a half ago indoors, and Pablo is a really solid player. He’s very consistent throughout the year and obviously played really well also over here, beat Muller today.”

Spaniard will face Zverev in SFPablo Carreno Busta had faced Kevin Anderson in Grand Slam semi-finals and at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events. But never before had the Spaniard been able to solve the 6'8” South African's game. Until Thursday.Carreno Busta broke through against the sixth seed for the first time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, advancing to the semi-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itau 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6). Carreno Busta reached his second Masters 1000 semi-final (2017 Indian Wells), and he'll try to make his maiden Masters 1000 final when he faces Alexander Zverev, who beat Borna Coric 6-4, 6-4 Thursday night.

“It was an amazing match, no? I lost to him, 7-6 in the third set [at Indian Wells]. And today, well, at the beginning of the match I started playing really good, returning good, serving good, being very aggressive,” Carreno Busta said. “I am very happy with the victory, because it's very important to me... and also to be in the semi-finals in this tournament.”You May Also Like: Del Potro Downs Raonic For 15th Straight WinThe Spaniard had to have a short memory and put aside a few ominous streaks that were working against him when he stepped on Stadium Court. He was 1-21 lifetime against Top 10 opponents, and he hadn't beaten a Top 20 player since 2017 Roland Garros. Carreno Busta was also 0-4 against Anderson, including his three-set loss at the BNP Paribas Open earlier this month.Watch Live Watch Full Match Replays

But the Spaniard was more consistent than the No. 8 player in the ATP Rankings, who was 0-9 lifetime in Masters 1000 quarter-finals. Carreno Busta broke in the seventh game with a forehand pass Anderson couldn't reach, and he looked to his box with confidence, shouting “Vamos, vamos!”The Spaniard hadn't won a match in Miami before the past two weeks (0-4), but he quickly had a set and a break lead after Anderson started slowly in the second set.“ListenAt 5-4, however, with the match on Carreno Busta's racquet, Anderson saved two match points and grasped momentum to even the contest. To Carreno Busta's credit, however, he bounced back, and the two Top 20 players stayed on serve until the deciding-set tie-break, when Carreno Busta captured his opportunity.“He played some unbelievable points, passing shots, returning really good,” Carreno Busta said. “After that it was a really tough mental moment for me... But I continued on court, I continued fighting.”Down a match point at 5/6, he put Anderson's serve in play and the South African sailed a forehand. The next point, Anderson was in position for a backhand volley at the net, but he pushed it well wide, and at 7/6, the Spaniard landed a second serve that Anderson mishit. Carreno Busta, after two hours and 42 minutes, could finally celebrate.DID YOU KNOW?Anderson was 4-1 in deciding-set tie-breaks this season before falling to Carreno Busta.

Pablo Carreno Busta booked his place in the third round at Roland Garros on Wednesday, overcoming Argentina's Federico Delbonis 7-6(0), 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4.

The 2017 quarter-finalist hit 41 winners and won 75 per cent of first-serve points to advance after three hours and 17 minutes. Carreno Busta improves to 10-4 on European clay this season, building on his recent run to the last eight at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

After defeating Delbonis for the second time at Roland Garros (2016), Carreno Busta narrows his FedEx ATP Head2Head series deficit to against the Argentine to 2-4.

The No. 10 seed will meet Gazprom Hungarian Open champion Marco Cecchinato for a spot in the Round of 16. The Italian won 54 per cent of return points to beat lucky loser Marco Trungelliti 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-1.

Did You Know?Pablo Carreno Busta has reached the third round in each of his past six Grand Slam appearances. The Spaniard's most recent exit before the Round of 32 at a major came at The Championships in 2016. Carreno Busta fell in the first round to eventual finalist Milos Raonic.

Third seed Pablo Carreno Busta also battled through on the first day of play, overcoming 2017 runner-up Florian Mayer 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) after two hours, 12 minutes. The Spaniard, competing in Hamburg for the first time since his debut in 2014, ousted the German wild card by the thinnest of margins. He took a 3/0 lead in the final-set tie-break, and would not look back from there.

Carreno Busta will next face Slovenian Aljaz Bedene or Swiss Henri Laaksonen. Bedene has won two of his three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against Carreno Busta, while the Spaniard has not faced Laaksonen.